Staten Island, NY -- When Nicole Doz's name was announced Sunday night as the new Miss Staten Island 2018 at the Miss Staten Island/Miss Richmond County pageant, the NYC Department of Sanitation couldn't be prouder.

After all, the 23-year-old beauty queen from Eltingville just landed a coveted DSNY civil service job with DSNY in November. She was one of only 500 annual new hires out of a large pool of 100,000 applicants.

"The DSNY was so supportive of me competing in the pageant," said Doz, a graduate of Brooklyn College with degree in English. "They even sent out a department-wide memo announcing that I was competing and wishing me luck. They included a link to purchase tickets in case my colleagues wanted to attend the pageant."

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Staten Island Advance/Gracelyn Santos

I asked Nicole about the interview portion of the competition for Miss Staten Island and how she thought she fared. "It was great meeting the judges," she said.

"When I first told them that I worked for the Deptartment of Sanitation -- and that I worked behind the truck and physically lifted the garbage bags onto the truck -- at first, they didn't believe me," she continued. "So in order to convince them, I had to demonstrate how I got the garbage onto the truck. Finally, they believed me."

Doz further convinced them during the talent portion of the competition when she wore her DSNY uniform for a musical rendition.

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Staten Island Advance/Bill Lyons

"I was so happy to win the title of Miss Staten Island and represent our borough in the state pageant in June, for a chance to represent New York in the Miss America pageant," said Nicole in a telephone interview the day after winning.

"I felt very confident last night because I practiced a lot and trained hard. I was hoping to do well, but of course, you never know."

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Staten Island Advance/Bill Lyons

"My favorite part about competing in pageants is just being on stage," said Doz. "Evening gown is my ultimate favorite because you get to have this surreal moment where you feel like you're on top of the world in this beautiful gown."

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Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com

In addition to being a beautiful and talented young lady, Doz is also very civic minded. Notably, last night she was awarded the United States Army 436th Transportation Battalion Certificate of Appreciation for her exceptional service and genuine care for our soldiers.